The South East Health Unit has deferred a decision on how it will split funding obligations between the communities it serves.
During Wednesday’s board of health meeting, the board discussed the funding levies, and how to divide the costs of running the health unit.
In the outline being considered, municipal contributions to the health unit’s funding would be split up on a per-capita basis, with each municipality contributing an equal amount per resident.
With the current levies, funding for the health unit was set to be split between 70 per cent provided by the province and 30 per cent provided by the municipalities. This split was proposed in order to maintain the current programs of the legacy health units.
The proposed funding model sparked debate, with concerns that some communities may have to pay more to maintain the same services as they had before the merger. A funding model with reduced municipal contributions was considered, but it was noted this would result in either reduced services or running a deficit.
After discussion of the budget options, the board voted to defer a final decision to a future meeting.
